Midtown Lunch

I noticed a new truck on 46th Street between 5th and 6th last Thursday. It was pretty bare bones with a brown faux wooden facade and a scaled-down menu. It looks like it’s called Camión, but upon closer inspection it’s actually called Mike & Jen’s Camión.

Camión is the Spanish word for truck, but Mike & Jen don’t seem to be Latin American at all. The truck even has a chipotle pepper in place of its accent mark. My expectations for legit Mexican food were not high as I ordered my food.

The menu lists just two options (since they were sold out of the Mexican fish dog) – beef or chicken burritos and a veggie taco, along with a special of fish tacos. I wanted to try the tacos, but wanted some meat. I asked if I could do a beef and fish taco, instead of the veggie option and was surprised that I was met with a “No problem!” Many trucks get strict about mixing and matching tacos, but I found the staff here very accommodating and helpful. Even when they messed up my order (I ended up with a chicken instead of fish), they quickly fixed it and I was on my way.

I think $8 is a bit much for two tacos, but these came with some purple corn chips and a sprinkling of pico de gallo. The guys on the truck told me these were big tacos, but in truth they seem to have the same amount of meat as a normal taco, but a larger tortilla.

No matter because the flavors were good. The braised beef was enhanced by a very interesting sriracha mole with a hint of sweetness and a hint of  spice. The black beans were rather dry, but eaten together it worked very nicely.

These were some of the better fish tacos I’ve had in the city. The cod was perfectly fried – moist and flaky – with a slight sweetness in the batter. Lime crema gave the taco a freshness that transported me to Southern California.

Based on these two tacos, Mike & Jen’s Camión truck is a promising addition to the taco truck scene. Interesting and unique sauces give these tacos a modern spin and a nice flavor. Curious to see what else they can do.

They’ve just started parking in Midtown and don’t yet have a Twitter feed, but they tell me they’ll be on 47th between Park and Lexington on Wednesdays and 46th between 5th and 6th on Thursdays.